Work on demolishing the former Dicker’s department store to make room for a $38 million project that many believe marks the beginning of a huge revival for downtown Redding is expected to start Thursday.

And the Redding Chamber of Commerce and Viva Downtown Redding will host a wrecking ball party to toast the occasion.

The public celebration is 5 to 7 p.m. on the north end of the Market Street Promenade between From the Hearth and the Shasta College Health Sciences building. There will be beer, wine and soda for sale, and live music from Major 7th.

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Crews are expected to start demolishing the old Dicker's department store, left, on Thursday. The Redding Chamber of Commerce and Viva Downtown will host a wrecking ball party.(Photo: David Benda)

Chamber President Jake Mangas said Daniel Knott of K2 will give a brief presentation on the project — a four-story, mixed-use building that will feature apartments, office and retail space. The project also will reopen Market, Yuba and Butte streets through the Promenade.

“It’s an opportunity to recognize the physical transformation of downtown,” Mangas said Wednesday afternoon.

When it opened in the spring of 1973, Dicker’s was the 27th store in The Mall downtown. A cornerstone of the center, Dicker’s closed in 1992, ending a nearly 50-year run for the family-operated department store.

Eddie Axner Construction is doing the demolition work and expects to have the site cleared by June 1 so construction can start about 10 days later, said Steve Bade, Redding’s community development manager.

“They have been working on the lead and asbestos (abatement) for the past few weeks,” Bade said Wednesday, “and they will start some of the demolition tomorrow. The demo permit will be released by the city today.”